Delegates Ask Judge In Sw Va. To Resign

He Had Concealed A 1994 Conviction

RICHMOND — A pair of Republican lawmakers have advised a judge from southwestern Virginia to resign after learning that he was convicted of soliciting a prostitute before he became a judge.

Judge D. Gregory Baker was arrested and convicted of soliciting a prostitute in Richmond in 1994. He concealed his conviction from lawmakers four years ago when he was appointed to the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court that serves the three most western counties of the state.

Kilgore, whose twin brother, Jerry, serves as attorney general, and Sen. William Wampler, another Republican who also represents the far western corner of the state, said they told Baker shortly before the session began earlier this month that he should resign.

"We asked him to consider tendering his resignation," Wampler said. "It's not like we demanded."

Last week, lawmakers voted to deny Newport News Circuit Court Judge Verbena Askew a second term on the bench in part, they said, because she did not reveal an out-of-court settlement in response to a questionnaire that asked if she had been a party to a civil proceeding. Askew maintains that she is not a party to the settlement and that the complaint -- which was filed against the city of Hampton with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission -- was an administrative matter not a civil proceeding.

Kilgore was among those voting to deny Askew a second term.

He said Baker told him about the incident in December after Baker learned that either the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission or the state bar association was investigating the case.

Kilgore said the General Assembly can't allow that kind of behavior, but noted that the General Assembly doesn't have the authority to force Baker out of office until his term is up.

He said he recommended that his friend quit because "it would be better for him than to go through this process."

Kilgore said he expects Baker to resign soon in order to give lawmakers a chance to find a replacement before the session ends next month.

On Feb. 23, 1994, Baker was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor shortly before noon in a hotel room a few blocks from the Capitol, according to a copy of a summons in Richmond General District Court. Police confiscated $250 as evidence. A little more than a month later, Baker was convicted of soliciting a prostitute and fined $50.

Baker and Kilgore, a former prosecutor, were partners in a law firm that formed sometime after Baker's 1994 conviction, Kilgore said.

As an adjunct professor at the Appalachian School of Law, Baker teaches Virginia Civil Procedure, lecturing on topics that include the Virginia Bar Exam.

He did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Kilgore said Baker had an obligation to disclose the conviction to the legislature when he was first appointed. At that time, he failed to mention the solicitation conviction when asked on a questionnaire if he had ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime.

Kilgore said Baker's case highlights the need to revise the questionnaire completed by judicial candidates during the appointment process. The questions should be more precise, and the candidates should have to swear that they answered honestly, he said.

Last year, the General Assembly passed a measure that requires a criminal background check for all judicial candidates. Kilgore and House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said that should help prevent similar problems in the future.

"This does concern me," Griffith said.

Daily Press staff writer Hugh Lessig contributed to this report.

Terry Scanlon can be reached at 247-7821 or by e-mail at tscanlon@dailypress.com Jessie Halladay can be reached at 247-4799 or by e-mail at jhalladay@dailypress.com